


you and me (but mostly me)

by xoxoHoran



Category: Single Parents (TV 2018)
Genre: Cannon Divergence, F/M, Pregnancy, Summer, living room wine, what happens next, written before the season finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:47:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24091594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xoxoHoran/pseuds/xoxoHoran
Summary: Will Cooper spends his Angie-less summer doing all of the things he did last summer, only with Miggy and Poppy instead of with Tracy: they play an insane amount of ski-ball, eat at the Bavarian sausage place that Angie still has never been to, and binge-watching the newest season of Joust! without Angie.(my take on what happens after 'a night of delicate frenching'
Relationships: Poppy Banks/Douglas Fogerty, Will Cooper/Angie D'Amato
Comments: 7
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

Will Cooper spends his Angie-less summer doing all of the things he did last summer, only with Miggy and Poppy instead of with Tracy: they play an insane amount of ski-ball, eat at the Bavarian sausage place that Angie still has never been to, and binge-watch the newest season of _Joust!_ without Angie. They host a plethora of parties (even Douglas hosts a couple: he and Poppy are still trying to find some form of friendship), and it feels exactly like last summer, partially because Angie was to busy obsessing over her email to _Derek_ that it was like she wasn’t there (is he a little bitter? yes, and he doesn’t like it).

More than once, he considers getting Graham and Sophie from space camp and telling Angie there was some sort of incident that requires her immediate attention and parenting skills, though he refrains when the urges hit. It would be complicated, explaining the situation to both Graham and Sophie: they would have to go along with whatever lie he had made up, they would be upset that he cut their fun summer at space camp short, they would ask a million questions about his motives - it would be a disaster.

Instead, he becomes a regular at the Winebrary, where he and Poppy consider hypotheticals about Angie and Douglas; he knows that any right-minded therapist would say he’s _spiraling_ and, for once, he doesn’t care. Sophie is gone for the summer and his best friend (who he is probably in love with) has left him in favor of trying to rekindle things with her ex-boyfriend (right after sleeping with him, too): he will admit, only to himself and Poppy, that life without his two favorite people is a little dull (Poppy doesn’t take offense to the fact that he’s clearly ranked the members of their friend-group, especially since she’s rooting for Angie to be with Will). 

Poppy, though she’s attempting to move past the Douglas situation and think about babies, is still struggling with the fact that things are awkward between her and Douglas. They had gone from almost moving in together to radio silence within a matter of days: Will wisely doesn’t mention that it’s her desire to have a baby that has created this situation, instead consoling her in a way he thinks Angie would appreciate (God, why can’t he stop thinking about Angie). 

Hypotheticals that involve Douglas usually involve what would have happened if he had considered having a baby, and Will often plays devil’s advocate to Poppy’s negative opinions, though both know that the situation is completely made up. Angie is involved in hypotheticals about her leaving Barstow, about her being in love with Will (Poppy thinks she might be), and about what could have happened after the morning after they drank too much living room wine and had sex in Angie’s living room (what actually happened was Will stuttering excuses and leaving as quickly as possible).

Yeah, he knows he’s probably ruined whatever remnants of friendship they were starting to build between them. If it wasn’t his urging her not to go to Barstow, then he’s sure their friendship crumbled as the door slammed behind him that morning. Now, he has three months to figure out how he is going to act around her and what he is going to do when she says that they can’t be friends anymore. When she had been planning to go to Barstow, he had told Miggy that his main concern was the fact that she would never return: now, he has to think about what might happen if she returned and didn’t want to be near him.

* * *

Angie D’Amato returns back from Barstow a couple of days before their children come back from space camp and Will decides to throw her a ‘Welcome Home’ party (Miggy shoots him a look as he’s hanging the banner, mumbling something about how Will should’ve called it a ‘Thank God You Came Home’ party, instead). 

Douglas and Tony come, bearing expensive liquor and a charcuterie tray, while Poppy follows shortly behind with freshly baked cookies (hardly baked, just the way Angie likes them). Rory is apparently at some sort of play date (Will feels a little hurt by the fact that Rory has _other_ friends) and Douglas has decided that the twins are old enough to be left home alone for short short amounts of time (though he is paying their neighbor an insane amount of money to check on them every half hour and make them something to eat).

Will notices how ‘on-edge’ Angie looks during the entirety of the party: avoiding both Douglas’s expensive liquor and Poppy’s unbaked cookies, and decides to confront her after the other guests have left (Poppy and Miggy warn him that it’s not a good idea, but he doesn’t listen)(they also said that about the party, which was clearly a _hit_ ).

“Is everything okay, Ange?” Will asks, trying to sound casual as he begins collecting trash from around his living room. Angie, who has been slowly eating through Douglas’s charcuterie tray (specifically the crackers), looks as if she’s going to throw up at any moment.

“Yeah, you know, everything is cool,” Angie mumbles, shoving another cracker into her mouth to avoid any further conversation. 

“So, how was being a Barstow bitch? Did you go to the beach every day? Did you become a temporary Fatzo? Did you and Derek-”

She rushes toward the bathroom before he can finish his interrogation, which he is thankful for, and he can hear the sound of her throwing up from the other side of the house, quickly dropping his trash bag and rushing toward the room with a cool glass of water. Angie looks hesitant when she sees him from her perch on the bathroom floor, softly patting the space beside her before she relaxes against the wall, accepting the water in his hands.

Her eyes begin to droop slightly from a mixture of what Will assumes is exhaustion and the toll of having just thrown up, but before she completely loses consciousness, she says it.

_“I think I’m pregnant.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking of writing a second chapter, so let me know what you think. For now, I guess this is (maybe) done, but I will likely come back to it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angie's perspective on the summer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought it would be interesting to alternate perspectives about what happened: it's something I'm doing for another story I'm also writing, to help kind of explore different character perspectives

Angie D’Amato spends her ‘Barstow’ summer slumped over her porcelain toilet, praying that Poppy hasn’t told anyone ( _Will_ ) about the fact that she didn’t go with Derek after all (considering he hasn’t come storming into her house demanding an explanation, she’ll assume that he still thinks she’s not home). 

She had wanted to go with Derek, but then she slept with Will and everything started to spiral after that. Suddenly, she found herself wondering what _she_ would do in Barstow while Derek was at work (because part of being the somewhat-respectable parent she was attracted to meant going to work and _providing_ for their son), frantically calling Poppy and hastily unpacking all of the clothes she had thrown into her luggage before Will came over the night before.

Poppy had arrived within a few minutes and, as cliche as it may sound, the rest was _history_.

Instead of spending the summer on the beach and reconnecting with Derek, she found herself holed up in her house, with Poppy spending the evenings trying to help her decide on a career path and apply for a variety of different jobs (Poppy deduced that maybe Angie was attracted to Derek because he seemed to have control of his life, while _she_ clearly had no idea what she wanted). 

To her credit, Poppy hardly reacts when Angie finally admits (during the middle of July) that she and Will slept together back in May (she does ask Angie about her ‘obvious’ feelings for Will and what she envisions for the two of them once she ‘returns from Barstow’). Angie spends the time that isn’t spent throwing up and finding her life’s purpose obsessing over her relationship with Will: What does she want to happen between the two of them? What if Will doesn’t want the same things? (he did leave pretty quickly after the incident).

All of her job applications and Will thoughts are pushed aside in late July, when she realizes that she hasn’t had a period in two months.

* * *

“I’m sure it’s nothing: you’re stressed and everything is going to be okay.” Poppy says reassuringly and, from behind her, she can see Miggy nodding along in the backseat (apparently Miggy needed a ride to work and Poppy couldn’t think of a strong enough reason to _not_ ).

“Yeah girl, besides, I thought you liked Derek,” Miggy says with a dopey smile, which causes Angie to begin to panic _more_. 

She would have to tell Will that she was having a baby, if she was pregnant. She would have to tell Will that she was having _his_ baby, if she was pregnant. She would have to tell Will that she hadn’t spent her summer being a ‘Barstow bitch,’ but instead sheltered in her own home, somewhat obsessing over everything, if she was pregnant.

 _Oh God_. That alone made her want to throw up again.

Poppy reaches for her hand and softly squeezes, a sign of solidarity and an unspoken agreement between the two of them. They will only tell _Miggy_ anything if the doctor confirms what they are both suspecting. If it’s nothing, then there is absolutely no need to inform Miggy about the lies they’ve both been telling. It’s simple, easy.

* * *

Poppy warns her at the beginning of August that Will has been going a little stir-crazy without Sophie and has decided to throw her a ‘Welcome Home’ party, which makes her a little more emotional than she’d like to admit.

The test had come back positive a week ago and she’s been trying to find ways to carefully break the news to Will, while also trying to think of how they would tell Graham and Sophie (and _everyone_ ). 

Poppy, of course, thinks she should simply tell the truth: she is in love with Will, she didn’t spend her summer in Barstow, she’s having _Will’s_ baby (she places emphasis on the last one, especially the fact that it’s Will’s, because he would likely otherwise think this meant she and Derek were back together).

Angie, on the other hand, thinks there are better ways than simply just ‘telling the truth.’ She can already envision how badly that one would go, the sad look on his face when he realizes she’s been avoiding him all summer, the upset look when she tells him about the baby.

The truth really isn’t an option in her mind. 

Instead, she tells herself to suck it up and enjoy herself at Will’s party.

( _“I think I’m pregnant.” )_

* * *

She wakes up in Will’s bedroom, though he is nowhere to be found (however, she can easily find a bag of chips he likely eats before bed and a baseball bat that she almost trips on as she gets out of bed).

She finds Will laying in Sophie’s bed, clearly uncomfortable, and she takes a second to think about how he would be with _this_ baby: he’s amazing with Sophie, but would he love this baby the same way? He had been broken up about his disastrous marriage with Mia ending, trying to reconcile even when there was minimal hope, yet he just left Angie that morning, sending her off to Barstow. Clearly that meant that he didn’t want to be with her, so she should just-

“Hey, you’re awake,” Will’s voice is soft and it startles Angie, considering she had thought _he_ was the one who was asleep. She wants to ask how she got from the bathroom floor (where she remembers falling asleep) to the bed and why he took Sophie’s bed, instead of having her take the couch. “If you give me a second, I’ll make us some breakfast, or did you need to leave right away?”

His lack of eye-contact confirms that she did, in fact, tell him she was pregnant last night. _Super_. Poppy will be so glad that they practiced the speech she was supposed to give no less than a dozen times, just for her to say it in her post-barf high.

“Oh no, actually, I think maybe we should talk,” Angie says, her voice as soft as Will’s was, as if speaking louder will ruin whatever peacefulness they have. 

“Yeah, I mean, what theme do you want your baby shower to be? Is Derek moving here or are you and Graham moving to Barstow? Have you-”

“I didn’t go to Barstow.”

* * *

She doesn’t know why she blurts it out, but the silence that follows is somewhat uncomfortable and she considers just leaving and heading back to the comforts of her own home, where she can obsess over this in private.

“Of course you did, you were there all summer.”

“No, I stayed here. I was going to go, but I didn’t.” She doesn’t meet his gaze and she begins anxiously rocking up and down on her heels, desperately trying to think of something else to say. Her internal monologue, which sounds like Poppy, is telling her to mention the baby and then get out of there. 

“Oh-”

“-yeah. I stayed home and tried to find my passions in life. A real riveting adventure, let me tell ya.”

“Well why didn’t you-”

“Didn’t seem like a good time, given what had happened earlier.” 

This is so awkward that Angie wishes she were anywhere but here. Will looks confused and hurt (like she knew he would be), but she can also see a little bit of relief in his brown eyes (which is surprising).

“Right, well did anyone know?”

She thinks about revealing the fact that Poppy knew all along and she saw Miggy a couple of weeks ago, but she can't seem to find the words. Clearly things haven't connected in his mind yet, considering the fact that she is _pregnant_ and she has hardly left the comforts of her home since they were together.

Part of her wants to reassure him that everything will be fine and they will figure something out.

Part of her wants to rush to the bathroom and throw up again because morning sickness has been kicking her ass all week.

(The latter urge wins as she sprints away from a room filled with awkwardness and a relationship she's not sure can be repaired).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, should the next chapter be Will or Angie or a different character (Poppy? Miggy? Douglas?)  
> Let me know below! And, I hope you like this chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re right, of course you’re right; everything is going to be fine. We love one another and that’s all that matters.”

Will is behind her in an instant, rubbing large circles on her back and holding her hair back as she throws up: he’s still processing the whole ‘ _ Angie is pregnant and she didn’t go to Barstow _ ’ news, but that doesn’t stop him from wanting to help her in any way possible (helping Angie D’Amato is kind of his MO).

Her brown eyes are watery when they finally meet his, worry and shame reflected in her gaze, as he offers her a small smile and a spare toothbrush, helping her off the floor and mumbling something about starting on pancakes for breakfast.

As he mixes together the ingredients, he finds himself thinking about the fact that Angie’s baby isn’t Derek’s (a voice inside his head whispers that there’s a chance it’s  _ his _ ) and the appropriate way to approach the situation (delicately, given the fact that Angie looked extremely anxious about everything a few moments ago). He doesn’t want to bombard her with questions or make assumptions without knowing all of the facts, he just wants to figure out what’s going on (and to make things better, though he knows that’s more of a ‘long-term’ goal).

Angie makes her way into the kitchen a few minutes later, looking exhausted and scanning his face quickly, as if she’s looking to judge his reaction to her latest news (he’s still  _ hurt _ that she’d spent the last few months holed up in her home, avoiding  _ him _ , but he decides to push that aside for the moment so that he can focus on the bigger picture). She’s having a baby: nothing else really matters right now, besides that. Well, that and-

“-why didn’t you go to Barstow this summer?” 

His question surprises himself, clearly, an unfiltered thought that he had just blurted out mindlessly. He’s desperate to know, for some kind of confirmation that maybe, just maybe, she has feelings for him (he wants to blame this on the fact that he’s getting a little emotional about the prospect of potentially having another child, but he knows that wouldn’t be accurate).

“I guess I just realized that my life is here, ya know? Derek has a life in Barstow and I don’t really fit into that.” Her voice is soft and she doesn’t make eye contact when she says it, as if she’s afraid of some sort of rejection from him (he feels like kicking himself, knowing that she’s probably thought about how quickly he left her that morning repeatedly over the summer, especially after she found out she was  _ with child _ ). “I know I said that I didn’t really have any meaningful roots in LA, but I was just lashing out at you because I was scared; obviously I have roots tying me to LA, important ones.”

He’s speechless, staring at her and trying to decipher what she might want him to say (he’ll say whatever she wants him to say, if only she would just help him out here). 

“Look, I’m sorry about the way that I told you about the whole baby and not going to Barstow thing: I should have been honest about both from the beginning, but I was just scared. You deserved the truth from the beginning and I hid everything from you because I was afraid of how you would react which, I know, is a little ridiculous.” 

“Angie, I know we have so much to discuss, starting with what you’ve been doing all summer trapped in your house and ending with how we’re going to handle raising this baby, but I think maybe we should take some time and really think about what we want and how we want to handle everything.” His voice is steady and quiet, his hand reaching up to caress her face gently so that they can make eye contact: he wants her to actually hear what he’s saying. “It’s important that we figure everything out before Sophie and Graham return because, let’s face it, they’re going to have a lot of questions.”

She nods slightly at what he’s saying, laughing softly when he mentions the situation with Graham and Sophie (he knows it’s something she’s probably been thinking about, too), before taking his hand lightly in her own.

“We’re going to get through this, right?”

“Of course we are, Ange.”

* * *

They agree to pick up Sophie and Graham, together, and tell them about the baby over pizza and rollerskating (Will says it is how his parents used to have serious discussions with him and Angie shrugs before agreeing, looking at her slightly noticeable bump). 

Poppy has been urging them to label their relationship before the kids return, but Will is too focused on re-reading all of the old pregnancy books he has stored away from when Mia was pregnant and Angie is too busy adjusting to her new job at a big marketing agency (all three of them know that these are just excuses, but Will and Angie are  _ too afraid _ to label anything this soon, after only a couple of weeks). They eat almost all of their meals together (sans lunch, which Angie eats at work), spend a large majority of their time together, and have even started looking into open houses with the knowledge that Angie will likely want to move before the baby comes (it was her idea but Will was more than a little excited, the old house reminding him of the fire and  _ Derek _ ).

Douglas rolls his eyes when he hears about ‘the plan,’ muttering under his breath about how terribly the sex talk with Graham had gone at the roller rink, before adding something about judgemental people lurking around there and resuming his conversation with Poppy (Will noticed that the two of them had started spending more time together, though he decided not to press her about it).

Angie is, as to be expected, a ball of nerves, changing outfits no less than five times as she attempts to find one that hides her pregnancy (she says she doesn’t want people thinking she’s gotten fat and, when Will laughs a little at that, tears begin pooling her eyes and he quickly wraps her in his embrace). It’s a surprising twist that he has become the cool and collected one while she is the bundle of nerves, but she blames it on the hormones and the baby, mumbling about how it wasn’t fair that  _ women _ had to carry the babies (both know that, if he could, Will would happily carry the baby as if he was a male seahorse, but that is  _ unfortunately  _ not possible). 

If Sophie and Graham notice something is different when they arrive together, wide smiles stretched across their faces as they practically suffocate their children (with love), neither comments on it (after Angie’s reaction to Graham leaving for space camp the year before, everyone was exposed to the fact that Angie D’Amato was actually capable of having feelings). Instead, they spend the short trip between the parking lot and the roller rink recounting some of their favorite memories, such as when Sophie got to do the simulator successfully by herself and Graham got a leading solo in one of the big group numbers.

* * *

“Why are we here again?” Sophie asks from her position beside him, making sure that they are skating at the same pace so that they can have this conversation. “Is there something going on with you and Angie, because you two have kind of been acting weird.”

Before Will has the chance to respond Graham, covered in more pads than Will thought possible, makes his way towards them, shooting them both curious looks as he passes them. 

“Listen, Soph, I have something to tell you and it’s kind of big, but-”

“Are you two, like, together now? Because I kinda figured this would happen while we were gone, especially after the whole Colin and Camarillo incident,” Sophie states confidently, squeezing her father’s hand in approval (and, okay, people needed to stop bringing up his trip to Camarillo as proof that he liked Angie, he would’ve done that for anyone). “I think you two would make a nice couple.”

“Actually Sophie, that’s not exactly what I was about to-”

Sophie skates away before he has the chance to fully correct her and, for the first time since they decided to take things slowly between the two of them, Will finds himself wondering if he and Angie should just stop dancing around labels and admit that they are dating. Maybe Poppy had a point- maybe they were only going to confuse the kids by  _ not _ labeling their relationship.

“Big Dubbs, are you dating my mom?” Graham’s voice knocks him out of his thoughts, while simultaneously knocking him to the ground (he’s startled and, for a second, it’s as if the younger boy had read his thoughts). “Will, are you okay?!”

“Yeah, everything’s good Graham, but I think I’m going to sit out for a little while,” Will admits as he struggles to stand up, his back sore from the fall. Graham nods, making sure that Will is safely off the hardwood before returning to his laps around the rink, clearly having forgotten the question he had asked earlier (which Will is  _ more than okay with _ ).

* * *

Once he’s safely off the wooden rink, he slips his skates off and limps towards the booth that Angie had selected; the sympathetic look she shoots him tells him that she saw his fall out there and, when she offers him a few Sour Patch kids (only the yellow ones, which she says are too sour for the baby), he accepts them before offering her a slight smile.

“Our kids think we’re dating.” His voice is somewhat soft in comparison to the loud music playing around them, but Angie nods in acknowledgment, signaling that she heard what he had said.

“And what did you say?” She looks curious and amused, though he can tell she’s grateful that neither asked her about the situation (with the way she’s been lately, it could end in tears… anything could end in tears these days).

“I didn’t say anything; Sophie skated away before I could correct her and you saw what happened when Graham confronted me,” Will rubs his back lightly, flinching a little as he relaxes into the booth.

“Maybe- I know we said we weren't going to define anything quite yet, but maybe we should. Poppy might be right, our situation is complicated and confusing, but we love one another and maybe that’s all that really matters anymore.” Angie’s voice is confident and she nods her head at the end of her mini-speech as if she’s agreeing with herself, before eating another Sour Patch kid.

“You’re right, of course, you’re right; everything is going to be fine. We love one another and that’s all that matters.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I really struggled writing this, maybe because I know that this isn't actually a possibility anymore? I don't know. Nevertheless, I did write it because I've been sitting on it for a while.   
> There might be another chapter. I don't know.


End file.
